Mariah Carey: Mariah Carey was born in
Long Island, New York on March 27, 1969. Her parents are Patricia Hickey
(Irish-American) and Alfred Roy Carey (African-American/Venezuelan). Mariah
attended Greenlawn's Harborfields High School. In June of 1990 Mariah made her
debut with "Mariah Carey" which entered at #73, but on August 4 1990 it reached
#1. Her 1990 self-titled debut album went multi-platinum and spawned an
extraordinary four consecutive #1 singles: "Vision of Love," "Love Takes Time,"
"Someday" and "I Don't Wanna Cry," and led to Grammy Awards for Best New Artist
and Best Female Vocalist. Her 1993 album titled Music Box went ten-times
platinum. On September 30th 1995, she made music history. Her single "Fantasy"
from her 1995 Daydream album debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her
the first female artist to accomplish a number one debut in the U.S. Her other
Daydream's single "One Sweet Day" remained for 16 weeks at the top of the
charts. She is the only artist since The Beatles to have so many #1 singles and
albums. With "Heartbreaker", the first single from her 1999 album Rainbow and
also her 14 #1 single, she became the only artist to top the charts in each year
of the 1990s, and with "Heartbreaker" at its 60th week atop the Billboard's
charts, she pushed ahead of The Beatles's 59-week record as the only artist with
the most cumulative weeks spent atop Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart.
Following "Heartbreaker", her second single "Thank God I Found You" also from
her Rainbow album became her 15th #1. "We Belong Together" from her 2005 album
The Emancipation of Mimi became her 16th #1 single and was also her first #1
without any guest artists since her song "My All" (also a #1 single) captured
the top spot in May 1998. The single "Don't Forget About Us" also from her 2005
album Emancipation of Mimi became her 17th #1 single, tying her with Elvis
Presley's 17 #1 singles. Three more Grammy Awards were gained from The
Emancipation of Mimi album. She is the most successful selling female artist in
music history and is the only female artist to have the most #1 singles and
albums and also holds the record for straight #1 singles and albums each year.
Along with numerous awards and incredible vocal range, she also composes all of
her own material, with the exception of song covers.

In April 2008, the single "Touch My Body" became her 18th #1 single, pushing her
ahead of Elvis Presley's 17 #1 singles. Now she is the only artist since The
Beatles to have as many number one singles and the only singer alive likely to
succeed them.
Spouse
Nick Cannon (30 April 2008 - present)
Tommy Mottola (5 June 1993 - 5 March 1998) (divorced)
Trade Mark
Beauty mark just below her mouth.
Labels her albums, videos, photographs, and clothing with butterflies.
Spectacular range spanning 5 octaves.

Sings in long, intricate phrases in the Whistle register range (as heard on such
songs as 'Emotions', 'Anytime you Need a Friend', 'Dreamlover', Bliss' and 'O
Holy Night', etc.)

Got her name from the song "They Call The Wind Maria" (spelled 'Maria' without
the H, but pronounced 'Mariah'). The popular Lerner & Loewe musical Paint Your
Wagon (1969), starring Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood, which was enjoying a great
deal of success after its release in 1969, and the song containing Mariah's
name, was a favorite of mother Patricia.

Worked a variety of odd jobs to support herself, including hat/coat-checker,
hostess, hair sweeper in hair salons, and waitress. She stated that she got
fired from all her jobs because of her attitude and was concentrating of
becoming a backing singer and mixing demos.

Dated Latin singer Luis Miguel.

Attended Oldfield Middle School and Harborfield High School.

Father is Black/Venezuelan American. Mother is White Irish-American.

In 1999 Mariah won the Horizon Award at the Congressional Foundation Awards for
her work with and for children.

The only female artist (and second artist or group ever) to have 18 #1 songs on
the US Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Made her singing debut, age 20. [1990]

Had the nickname "Mirage" in high school, because she never showed up for class.

According to her spokesperson, Mariah suffered a physical and emotional
breakdown, and spent the next couple weeks recovering in a Connecticut mental
hospital. [25 July 2001]

Appeared on the benefit concert "A Tribute To Heroes" and sang the song "Hero"
in dedication to the families, friends, victims, and heroes of the World Trade
Center tragedy. [September 2001]

Signed an $80 million deal with Virgin Records for her next four albums. [2001]

Founder of Camp Mariah, a serene escape located in Fishkill, New York for
inner-city youth to embrace the arts, introduce career opportunities, and build
self-esteem.

Named one of People Magazine's '25 Most Intriguing People of 2001'.

Virgin Records bought out her $80 million contract for $28 million. The primary
reason being the failure of her Glitter (2001) album and film. [26 January 2002]

Single 'One Sweet Day' holds the record for the single staying most weeks at #1
on the Billboard Hot 100 (a record 16 weeks)

With 18 #1 hits, she is in 2nd place among all artists with the most No. 1s in
music history, with The Beatles remaining in first place with 20. She surpassed
Elvis Presley's 17 #1 hits with "Touch My Body" as her 18th #1.

Owns a three floor apartment in New York City

Signed a three-album deal with Island/Def Jam records for a reported $21-24
million. She had already started work on a new album, which had no release date
at that point. Meanwhile, WiseGirls (2002), her movie with Mira Sorvino,
premiered on HBO in the fall of 2002. [May 2002]

Voted in at #36 in FHM's Sexiest Girls of 2002 poll, American edition.

Her seventh studio album, titled 'Charmbracelet', will be released on December
3, 2002, a week earlier than originally planned.

Is the most successful female singer-songwriter of all time, with 17 #1 hits and
more than 160 million records sold worldwide.

Her paternal Venezuelan grandfather's name was Francisco Nuñez. He changed his
last name Nuñez to Carey after moving to New York City; he hoped an American
name would help him make a good life in the US. He took the name Carey from his
biological father. Francisco's mother Margarita Nuñez was with a man named
Carey, but they were not married.

Used to be a backup singer for Brenda Starr.

The first single from the Glitter (2001) soundtrack, "Loverboy," was the #1 best
selling single in the year 2001.

She has twice recorded Phil Collins' song "Against All Odds", initially on her
album "Rainbow" and then a collaboration with Westlife hit number one in the UK
in 2000.

Her mother Patricia Hickey is a former mezzo-soprano New York City opera singer
and a freelance vocal coach. Patricia was also Mariah's vocal coach. Her father
Alfred Roy Carey was an aeronautical engineer.

Her highest note thus far was a G#7 (a few keys from the top of a piano) hit
during two live performances of "Emotions" in 1991. Also, she has hit an A2 in
her 1998 hit "My All," verifying her 5-octave range. Also, celebrity vocal coach
Mark Baxter says that he has heard Mariah sing past the top note on the piano.

Her siblings are Alison and Morgan, and are significantly older by eight years.

Mariah writes and co-writes as well as produces and co-produces her own songs,
including all of her number one hits (with the exception of her cover of "I'll
Be There").

Her wedding to Tommy Mottola was modeled after the royal wedding of Prince
Charles and Princess Diana. Her excuse for using the royal wedding as basis for
her own was that she never really had much interest in weddings as a girl, and
she wanted to know what such a gala affair should be like. Even the tiara she
wore, a family heirloom, was redesigned to look like Princess Diana's. Her
wedding dress was an ivory-silk duchess satin gown designed by Vera Wang, with a
8.25 m (27') train and matching satin pumps. The whole affair cost almost
$US0.5M, not including the 1893 sixpence Mariah put in one of her shoes for
luck.

With "Heartbreaker," the first single from her 1999 album Rainbow, she became
the only artist to top the charts in each year of the 1990s.

Made music history when "Fantasy" (from her 1995 album Daydream) became a #1.
With "Fantasy", Mariah became the first female artist to debut at number one in
the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100s. "Heartbreaker," the first single from her
1999 album Rainbow became her 14#1 single, and with "Heartbreaker", it marked
Mariah's 60th week atop the charts, which broke a long-standing 59-week record
established by the Beatles as the artist with the most weeks at #1 in the
41-year history of the Billboard's Hot 100. "Thank God I Found You" also from
Rainbow album was her 15 #1. "We Belong Together" from her 2005 album The
Emancipation of Mimi became her 16th #1 single, is also Hot 100's Greatest
Airplay Gainer, and moved to #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart to become her
ninth #1 chart topper there. It is also her first #1 without any guest artists
since her song "My All" captured the top spot in May 1998. "Don't Forget About
Us" became her 17th #1 single, tying her with Elvis Presley's 17 #1 singles. She
beat Elvis Presley's record with "Touch My Body" as her 18th #1 single.
Some of her prestigious awards include 5 Grammies, numerous grammy nominations,
numerous Radio Music Awards, many American Music Awards, Billboard's "Artist of
the Decade" Award and the World Music Award for "World's Best Selling Female
Artist of the Millennium" to name a few.
Her mother Patricia discovered Mariah's talent in 1972 while rehearsing at home
for her New York City Opera debut as Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto. Patricia
said, "From the time Mariah was a tiny girl. she sang on true pitch; she was
able to hear sound and duplicate it exactly. I missed my cue, but Mariah didn't.
She sang it - in Italian - at exactly the right point. She wasn't even yet 3."
From then on, Patricia began coaching Mariah.
Some of her albums feature the serif typeface friz quadrata.
Ranked #47 in Askmen's "Most Desirable Woman" (2001)
Ranked #99 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women" (2001)
Ranked #17 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women" (2000)
Some of her musical influences include Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Minnie
Riperton and Stevie Wonder.
The Emancipation Of Mimi, named the biggest-selling album of 2005, generated an
all-time career-high 8 Grammy nominations for Mariah. The album includes
Mariah's 16th and 17th #1 career singles, "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget
About Us," respectively - which tied one of the most enduring chart records in
Billboard Hot 100 history, Elvis Presley's 17 #1's. She passed Elvis Presley
with her 18th #1 single "Touch My Body". Mariah is now positioned as the only
active recording artist in the 50 years of the Hot 100 (which began in 1958)
with the potential to match or surpass the Beatles' all-time high 20 #1 hits.
For the first time in history, a non current song, "All I want for Christmas is
you" (1994) reached the #1 spot in the Digital Songs and Tracks the week of
December 22th 2005.
Was among the guests at Usher Raymond's 26th birthday party.
Her godmother is Patti LaBelle
Named #15 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement.
(2005)
Her longest note is in her song "Lead the Way", where she holds a note for about
21 seconds long. In full-voice (no Whistle) she can sing up to G6, as in the
song "You're So Cold" where she Ad-Libs down to F2 (two notes lower than the A2
in 'My All') and back up to F6, seconds later, she hits F7# in the Whistle
register.
Studied over 500 hours of beauty school and hair salon prior to becoming a
singer.
Composes all of her own material, except for song covers.
Named #28 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement.
(2006).
Gave acclaimed performances at State Kremlin Palace, Moscow, and in St.
Petersburg, Russia, in 2003.
The first presents that Mariah indulged herself, were a Ford Mustang convertible
and an apartment with a stunning view in New York's Upper East Side on the 21st
floor of a high-rise building. She decorated it with her idol's posters (Marilyn
Monroe) and lived there with her two cats Ninja and Thompkins.
Use to be a vegetarian but stopped for ex-husband Tommy Mottola.
Ranked #19 on VH1's 100 Sexiest Artists.
According to some reports, insured her body for $10M during the shooting of
Glitter (2001).
Is mentioned in the Vanessa Hudgens song, 'Promise' and the Freeway song
'Flipside'.
2001: Had a breakdown with the press, grabbed an interviewer's tape recorder and
spoke directly to her fans: "I want them to know that this is a freaking,
complete clown-fest".
Is the only act to have had a number one single in the US every year of the
1990's.
March 2003: The Guiness Book of World Records awarded her the record for the
highest note hit by a human, after she hit the G7# note during a live
performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner".
1998: Toured Australia and said the highlight of her trip was swimming with
dolphins.
Her official website features "Mariahisms", her favorite sayings, including
"Lamb", "Bing bong" and "Okie dokie smokey".
Admires Marilyn Monroe.
Named "America's Most Misunderstood Black Woman", by Essence magazine.
Failed her driver's license test three times.
In the mid 1990's, thanked her mother by buying her a house. She gathered her
mother's possessions and put them in the new house, as well as framing photos
and putting them on the wall. Then she pretended they were just looking at the
house. Mariah says: "It was the most incredible thing I've ever been able to
do".
Wanted to be a genie when she was a kid.
154 thousand copies of her new album, E=MC2, were sold on its first day of
release. (April 2008).
Merited a place in Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World"
(Artists & Entertainers section) with a tribute written by Stevie Wonder (Issue
May 12, 2008).
Ranked #71 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list.

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